Sunday, May 11, 2008

Two different states, three similar disappearances

I come across a lot of missing person and cold case stories as a result of this blog. Every once in awhile, something triggers my attention. I just read a story about Mary Cronin and I was struck by the similarities between her disappearance and those of the two young women who went missing in New Hampshire. You could almost switch the names and swear it was the same story. Mary Cronin, Omaha, Nebraska“Mary worked part time at Cappy's Bar at 108th and Mockingbird in Omaha (Nebraska). It was April 12, 1992, she was in the parking lot about 1:30 in the morning after the bar closed with a man. That was the last time she was seen alive. Mary's purple Cadillac found a few hours later... A few miles down the road in Sarpy County in a ditch...near 96th and Harrison. It was left running, lights on, door open with her purse still in the front seat. Mary just vanished. Her car just towed away.SOURCE: http://www.action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=8275518&nav=menu550_2

Brianna Maitland, Montgomery, VermontMaitland was last seen at her dishwashing job at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery, Vermont, between 11:20 p.m. and midnight on March 19, 2004…Maitland's vehicle, a pale green four-door 1985 Oldsmobile sedan, was found abandoned on March 20, off East Berkshire Road and Route 118, across Dutchburn Farm Road, about a mile outside of Montgomery. It was parked partially inside an abandoned barn. Two of Maitland's uncashed paychecks were on the front seat of the car. She also left behind all her clothing, her medicine, driver's license, her makeup, and her contact lenses. She hasn't been seen since.

Maura Murray, Woodsville, New HampshireDuring the early evening of February 9, 2004, Maura Murray ran her car into a ditch off the Wild Ammonoosuc Road in Woodsville, New Hampshire. When police arrived, Maura had vanished.

I've been following those New Hampshire cases. Maura Murray's is the strangest of all. She was spotted in her car, yet when the tow truck came for her awhile later, she was gone. Disappeared without a trace.

The frightening thing is not so much mistakes that may or may not have been made at first, but how the leads have just dried up completely, with seemingly no chance of ever getting it solved. The police are at a total loss.

Brianna Maitland was more of a "high risk" victim, having association with gang members and drug dealers, and had dabbled in methamphetamine. It seems likely that her killer(s) is somehow related to this.

I'm sure you've blogged about this one before. Jason Jolkowski disappeared in broad daylight from his Omaha, NE meighbourhood while walking to meet his ride for work. Not a trace of him has ever been found, and to this day the police have no clue as to why he disappeared.